


A Welcome Distraction

by commander_cullywully



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Love, Oneshot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 14:57:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2736818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commander_cullywully/pseuds/commander_cullywully
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gwyn Trevelyan asks Cullen to go horseback riding with her and surprises him in more ways than one. Little bit of awkwardness ensues, as well as a little bit of angst, but all things fluff by the end!</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Welcome Distraction

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a series of oneshots with my Fem!Inquisitor and Cullen. If you like what you read & have any requests, visit my tumblr [commander-cullywully.tumblr.com] and send me a message! Otherwise, I really hope you enjoy!

He watched her mouth move, her bright blue eyes staring into his as she spoke with a smile. Gwyneth Trevelyan always had this look about her…always kind. She was twisting her fingers, awkwardly messing with them and the toe of her boot was slowly tapping the stone of his office quarters. Ever since their chess game he had noticed these movements occurring more and more, and it always seemed to baffle him. Inside the war room she had always seemed so sure of herself, it was strange to see her guessing her movements and choosing her words carefully. She needn’t worry, however.  
“Cullen…Cullen?” She snapped her fingers and laughed as he became sucked back into the real world.  
“I’m sorry!” He blurted, realizing it was usually he embarrassing himself repeatedly in front of her. Her musical laughter filled the room until he sighed. “I’m sorry,” he repeated. “You were saying?”  
“I was asking if you wanted to go for a horseback ride. Master Dennet’s daughter, Seanna, has this course set up in the Hinterlands,” She casually scratched her arm. “Anyway, she normally times it and it’s ridiculously easy…but I’ve been practicing and I’ve had Dennet and I set up a course here in the woods. I thought it’d be fun and I just wondered if you wanted to have a go.” The words came out in one breath and she bit her lip as soon as she finished. His hand left the hilt of his sword and sorted through the pile of reports on his desk. She watched him scratch his neck—his tell; he was nervous. There was probably too much work to be done. There was always too much work to be done. She looked down at her hands, wanting to avoid his amber eyes and the “no” that was undoubtedly coming. Perhaps she read the signs all wrong. Maker, she was always terrible with flirting.  
“Unless you’re too busy, I understand. Who am I kidding? We’re in the middle of a bloody war practically and—“  
“I’d love to.” He interrupted, smiling. Gwyn looked up, her eyes sparkling. She looked beautiful.  
“Really?” She sputtered, incredulously. A chuckle escaped his throat and he nodded.  
“Honestly, I could use the distraction from this paperwork at the moment…and it sounds like a good one.” She smiled and started out of the room without him. He couldn’t help but laugh when she turned on her heel to face him once again, completely red-faced. Maker, she was beautiful.  
“I’ll meet you at the stables shortly.” She managed to stammer out before disappearing. He gave her a smile before he nodded in agreement.  
  
  


******************* 

As Cullen approached the stables, he watched as Gwyn was readying a black and white steed. She was tightening its saddle and double-checking the bridle before she finally noticed him.  
“Do you ever take that off?” She asked, referring to his fur pauldrons. He glanced down at himself before realizing he rarely took off any of his armor.  
“I’ve never had a reason to,” He shrugged as Dennet pulled his brown Fereldan Forder out. He thanked the man and began to ready his mount.  
“I could think of a few reasons.” Gwyn murmured softly. Cullen felt heat rise to his cheeks.  
“What was that?”  
“I was just talking about the weather. Y’know, the seasons. Haven’s winter was awful,” She corrected, laughing a little too loudly and causing her cheeks to become the same shade as his.  
“Riiiiiight,” Cullen scratched his neck, “are we ready?” He hadn’t the fainted clue how to do this. Was he supposed to joke? Did he make her too nervous? Was he being too nervous? Gwyn ran her fingers through her horse’s mane.  
“Let’s get going so we can get there in time.” Her grin was mischievous. Cullen raised an eyebrow.  
“In time for?” He questioned. Gwyn shook her head and climbed into her saddle gracefully. Cullen quickly climbed upon his own.  
“It’s a secret.” She replied simply before nudging her horse and taking off. Her dark brown ponytail bounced as she turned in her saddle, “Better catch up!” Her laughter could be heard throughout Skyhold’s courtyard, he was sure of it. He followed suit, pushing his horse to gallop after her. She was skilled in riding—that was for sure. Her posture was perfect; she moved well with her four-legged companion. What more didn’t he know about her, he wondered. She constantly looked behind her, her blue eyes glinting as her horse jumped over a fallen tree trunk. There was a bond there between her horse and her, a trust that Cullen was almost envious of.  
Eventually Gwyn slowed her horse to ride next to him.  
“Almost lost you for a moment,” She admitted, “Sorry. I always did get a bit carried away with riding.” Cullen looked around the wooded area. There was no course to be seen anywhere. He stopped his horse and circled around briefly before sighing.  
“Where’s the course?” Gwyn bit her lip in response. “Gwyn….”  
“Okay, maybe I lied a little. But I just had to get you out here- you’ve been holed up in that office for days on end.”  
“I had some work-“  
“Which you needed to be distracted from! You said so yourself! Besides, I’m pretty sure you haven’t been sleeping either.” Cullen rubbed his neck and sighed again. He wasn’t ready to tell her about the nightmares. But she was right and, frankly, she was the one person he wanted to be distracted with. Gwyn pointed up a nearby hill. “It’s not much farther, anyway—just up the clearing.” He didn’t argue. The two silently rode up the trail, exchanging glances at each other and sometimes smiles that they often reserved for each other in moments like these.  
“This is Bartleby, by the way,” She patted her horse’s neck and it snorted softly in response. Cullen stared at her for a few moments, unsure what he was supposed to say in response. “My father was the one who taught me to ride, y’know. It was always a sort of adventure with him when we left the stables. Anyway, he always told me you could tell something about a person by what they named their horse.” She trailed off, growing quiet for a moment before looking over at his brown steed. “He’s beautiful,” She noted as she reached over the distance between them to pat the horse’s neck. Cullen found himself reaching a gloved hand forward to do the same when he felt his fingers touch hers. They were so small to him, fragile. Was he moving too fast? What was too fast these days? He quickly moved his hands back to the horn of the saddle.  
“My apologies, Inquisitor.” He looked away before he realized she had gotten off her horse and was trudging over to a nearby tree. Mumbling to herself, she tied the horse to the trunk and untied a bag from her saddle. Cullen, realizing he had made a mistake, hurried after her. He attempted to help her carry the saddle bag, “Gwyn, I didn’t-“  
“No, I get it. I’m…” she searched for the words as she took the bag from his hands and walked up the hill a little farther. Instead of using the ones she wanted to use, she finally settled with, “different. I’m the Inquisitor. I get it.” She opened the bag and pulled out a blanket. Cullen sucked in a breath. He had offended her.  
“Gwyn, I assure you that I did not mean to upset you. I’m still figuring all of this out. I’ve never…” He trailed off.  
“Never what? Talked to a mage before?” The words were harsh, harsher than Gwyn meant them to sound. So that’s what this was about, Cullen realized. Of course that’s what this was about.  
“No, I’ve never had the luxury of…something normal, something good.” Gwyn dropped the edge of the blanket she was trying to straighten, her face matching the red of Cullen’s.  
“Oh,” she fumbled with the saddle bag, then proceeded sit on the blanket, her face buried in her hands. “I’m such a fool. I am so sorry. I meant today to be this nice thing—I even brought food for us because Josephine told me you haven’t been eating! Ugh, then here I am making a fuss over something ridiculous when you’re just trying to be nice.” Cullen smiled and sat in front of her on the blanket. He slowly worked the courage to pull her hands away from her face and hold them. His thumbs lightly traced circles on her hands as he smiled.  
“I’m learning,” He noted, his voice lowered. Gwyn nodded.  
“Me too.” She whispered.  
“So what’s this surprise you were on about earlier?”  
“Right, about that. Keep your eyes on this clearing.” The two sat together in silence, holding hands. Slowly, the sun went down and the sky began to be lit with magnificent blues, purples, pinks, oranges, and yellows.  
“It’s lovely,” Cullen said softly, his eyes trying to show his appreciation of this moment of peace. Gwyn pressed a finger to her lips.  
“Just wait.” Her blue eyes seemed to dance excitedly as she stood up and pulled him to his feet. “Watch this,” she whispered. As the sky slowly began darken, the brighter colors disappearing before their eyes, Gwyn slowly closed her eyes. She did a sweeping motion with her hands that Cullen almost didn’t catch and watched as yellow lights seemed to flow from her finger tips down to the mountain clearing below. She grinned as they danced and floated around them. Cullen, completely mesmerized, looked around them.  
“They’re beautiful,” He said breathlessly. He looked over at Gwyn, who was grinning ear-to-ear. He searched for her hands and held them tightly, “What are they?”  
“Since the last Blight, I noticed I hadn’t seen very many fireflies. Either I haven’t been looking hard enough or they’ve migrated…” She trailed off for a moment, her eyes wandering, “Anyway, when I was in the Circle at Ostwick, I watched them all the time, or made them. Or both.” She sighed before facing him, “I don’t know if you know this, but my father fought to keep me at home. He offered to employ a Templar and an enchanter around just so I could stay. Obviously that wasn’t an option, but most of all- it was because my mother was repulsed by me. The first time they found out I had magical abilities, I was creating balls of light, just like these. My father was mesmerized by these abilities, but my mother? She was disgusted. She couldn’t wait to have me sent to the Circle, I—“ Gwyn stopped herself and took a breath. Cullen wrapped one arm around her, not sure about what else to do.  
“You don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to. Not if it’s too hard.” He offered. Gwyn shook her head.  
“These lights once felt like curse to me, Cullen. As a child, I thought there was something wrong with me that the Circle was going to fix, I….I didn’t understand and I just wanted to go home to my father and win my mother’s affection back. I just wanted to be normal, whatever that was. Now, here? Being the ‘Herald of Andraste?’ With you? With these lights? I don’t know what else I can be. This…this is it.” She walked over to the blanket and sat down, looking up at the night’s sky. Her hand completed another swift motion and more lights sparkled above her head. She smiled at him forlornly until he approached her, his hands reaching for hers. He didn’t know what to say, how to fix this situation.  
“She was wrong, you know. They’re beautiful,” He watched as the small, yellow lights floated above them. This was his chance, he thought. Carefully he brought his lips to her hands, “Just like you.” Gwyn playfully batted at his arm until he sat beside her. He watched the freckles on her nose crinkle in happiness and couldn’t help but remove the fur robes and drape them over around her. Her hands reached for his once more and she removed his glove. Her fingers traced over callouses in his overworked hands until she sighed.  
“Can we stay a little longer?” She asked, watching his face carefully. He gave her his infamous smirk before nodding. She responded by placing his head in her shoulder, which startled him. He wasn’t used to all of this affection. He wasn’t used to feeling wanted.  
“I think we can manage that.” The two laid on the blanket beneath them as they looked up at the starry night’s sky and the yellow lights drifting around them. For a long time Cullen never thought someone else could feel this way about him. Honestly, he didn’t think he was deserving. Yet, there was this woman lying next to him, her smile contagious and small hands wrapped with his. As hard as he tried, he didn’t think he could ever get used to this. 


End file.
